Our image of a family business is usually of one that is focused on a specific activity – retailing, recycling, printing, building and so on. Mark Jones, together with his parents Jennifer and Michael, are breaking the mould and are busy turning their four generation old family farm into a diverse range of businesses, the better to adapt to the changeable winds of economic fortune.

Starting from the core business of breeding and hiring out prize pedigree bulls to farmers wanting to improve their stock, the Jones at Lockley Villa Farm near Market Drayton have taken advantage of the space they have available to diversify into secure caravan and motor home storage, self storage for both business and domestic users, a certified camp site and a series of small business units. It can’t be long before they reach the magnificent seven!

Shropshire caravan and motor home owners have already found Lockley Storage is just what they needed and Mark is extending the area of secure hard standing to meet demand. The serried ranks of big blue boxes, otherwise known as 20 foot shipping containers provide secure and damp proof storage for everything from business files, office furniture and homes in transit to jet skis!

It may not be farming as we knew it but it is certainly a great example of cultivating every available asset.